A census is a count and description of the population. A few censuses have been taken by&nbsp;various German states, provinces, and cities, and by some ecclesiastical officials. Censuses were taken primarily for taxation or military purposes.

A census is a count and description of the population. A few censuses have been taken by&nbsp;various German states, provinces, and cities, and by some ecclesiastical officials. Censuses were taken primarily for taxation or military purposes.

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Some indexes now available online at: [http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/perl/results.cgi?region=4&sort=n&type=4 http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/perl/results.cgi?region=4&amp;sort=n&amp;type=4]

Some indexes now available online at: [http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/perl/results.cgi?region=4&sort=n&type=4 http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/perl/results.cgi?region=4&amp;sort=n&amp;type=4]

In 1939 Extracts of the 1939 German census concerning non-Germanic minorities living in Breslau and other cities was taken with an&nbsp;emphasis is on the Jewish population.&nbsp; A translated sample of the format of the census is below.&nbsp; Click on the image to enlarge it.

Revision as of 05:15, 2 August 2013

A census is a count and description of the population. A few censuses have been taken by various German states, provinces, and cities, and by some ecclesiastical officials. Censuses were taken primarily for taxation or military purposes.

German censuses may not be as helpful as censuses from other countries because better sources, such as church records and civil registration, are available.

Censuses were not taken nationally in Germany and therefore exist for only a limited number of places and times. Only the compiled statistical information that was gathered from the censuses is generally available. Census records of some towns and regions may be accessible at various archives, but most are presently not available to researchers.

Use census information carefully since accurate information may not have been given to or understood by the census taker.

Contents

Census Records at the Family History Library

The census records of several areas have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library. The 1819, 1867, 1890, an 1900 censuses of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and various census records for Schleswig-Holstein are the most significant censuses available at the Library. There were also some census records taken in the year 1938, which focused mainly on the Jewish population.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

The Family History Library has the 1819 census on 60 rolls of microfilm. This census gives information about all those who lived in a particular household, including age, sex, birthplace, parish to which the birthplace belongs, marital status, and occupation. It also includes the length of residency and some additional comments. The census is arranged by district and city, and records are available for almost every town in Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Schleswig-Holstein

Denmark ruled all of Schleswig-Holstein, including Lübeck and parts of Hamburg and Oldenburg, until 1864. Denmark took several censuses of this area. The first census was made in 1769, and subsequent censuses were taken in 1801, 1803, 1834, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1850, 1855, and 1860. The censuses are written in either German or Danish, sometimes with both on the same page. The information contained in the censuses varies according to which year it was taken:

1769. This census names the head of each household and the number of people in the house, grouped by age and sex. It did not take military personnel into account, neither will the researcher find information from estates, monestaries and the Gottorfer areas.

1801-1860. Censuses taken from 1801 to 1860 list each person's name, residence, position in the family, age, marital status, and occupation.

1845 and later censuses. From 1845 on, each census also lists birthplace, the parish of the birthplace, and the length of residency at the census place.

It is often difficult to determine which village belongs to what census district. A good source to find jurisdictions are the two volumes v. Schröder and Biernatzki published: "Topographie des Herzogthums Schleswig" (1854) and "Topographie der Herzogthümer Holstein und Lauenburg" (1855)

Censuses are microfilmed but not indexed. They are arranged by district and city. These census records are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

1938 Census for Minorities

In 1939 Extracts of the 1939 German census concerning non-Germanic minorities living in Breslau and other cities was taken with an emphasis is on the Jewish population. A translated sample of the format of the census is below. Click on the image to enlarge it.

A table with film numbers follows which gives the localities that have films for the 1938 census.